Sanctioned Russian oil is reportedly finding its way into the US military's supply chain
- Russian oil is finding its way into the Pentagon's supply chains, the Post reported.
- A big chunk of Russian crude is reportedly sent to a Turkey before making its way to a US supplier.
Russian oil is reportedly finding its way into US Pentagon supply chains despite bans and sanctions on energy products from the country following its invasion of Ukraine, according to an analysis from the Washington Post.
The Motor Oil Hellas refinery, a Greek crude refinery that supplies the US military, said it had transitioned to other fuel sources just a few months after the West banned Russian oil exports.
But the refinery's newly sourced fuel was actually Russian oil that had simply swapped hands, a Post analysis of shipping data shows, as Russia began shipping its crude oil to Dortyol, a storage terminal in Turkey, before it was eventually shipped to Greece.
The amount of crude the US military ended up purchasing that is of Russian origin is unknown, but the Department of Defense gave nearly $1 billion in contract awards to Motor Oil Hellas since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a significant spike from the prior year, according to an investigation from the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight.
And since Russia invaded Ukraine, at least 56% of oil shipments sent to Motor Oil Hellas were from Dortyol. Meanwhile, around 69% of shipments sent to Dortoyl were of Russian origin, the Post reported, citing Project on Government Oversight data.
"While some shipments to Motor Oil Hellas may be abiding by the evolving landscape of sanctions and embargoes, the dynamic puts the Pentagon in an awkward position: On one hand, the U.S. government is sending billions of dollars of weaponry to Ukraine to defend against Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion, and on the other it is likely buying products that contain Russian fossil fuels, the major economic driver of the Russian war machine," the watchdog group said in its investigation.
Researchers say that Russia has likely thwarted the West's attempts to crimp war revenue by restricting its energy trade. Last year, Moscow reportedly assembled a secret fleet of "shadow tankers" to disguise the origin of its oil. Meanwhile, some researchers say that Russian oil is likely being sold way above the West's $60 a barrel price cap, partly due to its shadow fleet as well as inflated shipping costs that can disguise that true amount being paid by customers, the Financial Times reported.